1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the conversion of alkanes to alkenes, and particularly to the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propylene using a mixed metal oxides catalyst that is highly selective for propylene and that permits the reaction to proceed at a milder temperatures than petroleum cracking processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Propylene is a commercially valuable product. The reactivity of the allylic carbon makes propylene useful for the production of polypropylene, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, propylene glycol, cumene, and other products, which are useful as final products and as intermediates in the synthesis or production of other commodities.
The majority of propylene is produced by steam hydrocracking of crude petroleum, or by distillation. However, such processes are not highly selective or produce propylene in low yield. Recently, there has been renewed interest in oxidative dehydrogenation of propane for the production of propylene. Oxidative dehydrogenation is attractive because it can be accomplished at lower temperatures than cracking or distillation processes, thereby avoiding complications and expense resulting from coking of the catalyst. Nevertheless, oxidative dehydrogenation is not currently used for the production of propylene, largely due to low yields and lack of selectivity of the currently known catalysts.
Thus, a catalyst for oxidative dehydrogenation of propane solving the aforementioned problems is desired.